Microsoft software developments products are often out of reach for most students. Computer science students in colleges and universities across the world are always short on cash and big on ideas. But now Microsoft has released its software development tools to students who can explore their creativity. Under the DreamSpark umbrella Microsoft has opened up access to whole suite of developer and designer tools and platform resources. In its press release Microsoft describes the DreamSpark program as ”Microsoft DreamSpark is available to all students whose studies touch on technology, design, math, science and engineering. Students of today are more technical in their everyday lives than ever — representing both their personal interests and what is expected of them when they arrive in the workplace for the first time.”

What Does DreamSpark Include?

The DreamSpark program releases the following packages and libraries to the student community. If you wish to participate the following suites are available to technology students in universities. Microsoft Developer tools package include Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition, Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition, XNA Game Studio 2.0 and 12-month free Academic membership in the XNA Creators Club. Microsoft Designer tools gives you Expression Studio which includes Expression Web, Expression Blend, Expression Design and Expression Media. Microsoft founder Bill Gates spoke about the DreamSpark program at length in a Stanford speech. The video of the speech can be seen below or MSDN Channel 8.

The Bill Gates Stanford Speech

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